Lived Theology School: Do You Have A Year to Give?

TORONTO, ONTARIO -- The Lived Theology School at St John the Compassionate Mission in Toronto asks, Do you have a year to give? Do you have a year to actively serve the poor and disadvantaged in the context of a full Orthodox liturgical life? Can you give one year to really seeking God’s will in your life or to finding, perhaps, new ways to serve the Church? Do you want a year in which to discover and develop your talents?

The Lived Theology School Program of St. John the Compassionate Mission which was established with the blessing of Metropolitan Nicholas, invites you to personally consider this new opportunity to study and to deepen your Orthodox faith, to experience first-hand what inner-city mission work is like and to live and learn in community with people from other parts of the world.

With the blessing of our bishop we are able to offer any adult Orthodox Christian (over 18) a unique opportunity of learning, living and praying our Orthodox faith. With over 21 years of active service among the poor of Toronto, the St John the Compassionate Mission wishes to establish this Lived Theology School as an innovative and creative way of sharing with others the experience of these years, in the hope that you will learn with us and will take this experienceinto your own lives and parishes and create new ways of being involved in your local community and inthe lives of all those in need.

This program is intended to be a hands' on learning experience, and a way to live your faith in a unique way. This program is structured to emphasize the practical application of Orthodox theology in daily living, keeping in mind in the words of His Eminence, Metropolitan Nicholas, "What Orthodoxy needs is not more professors but confessors!"

We must always draw life from the liturgy of our Church; and at the same time, we cannot forget to respond to the needs of our neighbour, especially during these difficult times in our world. The Church becomes the Church when it identifies with the most vulnerable - His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, from his letter of greeting to the 21st Diocesan Sobor/Council of the Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese, July 1st 2009.